A library is one of the first learning spaces that comes to mind when we consider where kids learn. The smell of books evokes memories of our own time spent browsing the titles and working out the, often complicated catalogue system...

Fast forward to today's library. A Stephen Perse library. Bright, fresh colours help stimulate young minds. Technology opens up opportunities to further resources and rather than somewhere that is silent, here they buzz with activity. The digital age far from sounding the death knell of school libraries offers schools an opportunity to create their own distinctive library space. Libraries have a history of offering inspiration – they also have a future.

Dame bradbury's

Our library at Dame Bradbury's with its very own 'Tree of Knowledge' at the heart of the space, is an integral part of school life. Its learning branches overhang the room and its trunk provides a wonderful place in which to snuggle away and read. Around the tree are the books – brightly lit on the new shelves. And near the books, plenty of space to sit, lie, curl up, stretch out… whatever favourite way you have to enjoy a book.

Pre-Preps and Junior School

A unique and visionary library helps to enable our pupils to become active thinkers and learners. Through our library we created a space all about the power of the story. The story courtyard complements a room which is configured to invite children to engage and explore. It invites them into a world all about the imagination. In the spaces there are cultural signifiers referencing children’s literature which are integral to the power of the story.

Cabinet of Curiosities

Our Senior School library continues the journey for our pupils combining the power of the story with a concept premised on the Cabinet of Curiosities. Curiosity in its purest sense where a student’s learning is entirely unrelated to examination specifications and is encouraging learning for its own sake. This library space is unashamedly about inspiring a love of learning.